Keeping WLIU on the air, from anywhere
 Suffolk Closeup


What a scene this weekend: the finest radio station studiofacility on Long Island was being dismantled. The elements of WLIUradio – microphones, file folders, CDs and more – were in cardboardboxes waiting to be moved. And soon, the soundproof walls andceilings, the little rooms where on-air personalities talked,conducted interviews and played music will be remodeled intoclassrooms and offices.

Deadlines have loomed for months for WLIU, the last vestige ofLong Island University’s Southampton College, to leave the campusof what is now Stony Brook Southampton.

It was good that after LIU shut down Southampton College in2005, SUNY’s Stony Brook University took over the campus.

In recent times, an East End community-based organization,Peconic Public Broadcasting, made arrangements to acquire WLIU fromLIU. This way, WLIU could continue as the only locally owned andoperated public broadcasting station on Long Island. This, too, wasgood. LIU could have gotten more money from some outside entityseeking WLIU’s license to broadcast who knows what.

Meanwhile, there have been differing views about Stony BrookUniversity saying WLIU had to leave its campus. Some held StonyBrook administrators should let the station stay and provide a homefor it to continue to serve eastern Long Island. But theadministrators claimed the space was needed for other things.Generously, they extended deadlines for WLIU to get out.

Walking through the station Saturday, seeing the shambles ofwhat had been a gem of a radio facility, the reality sank in ofwhat will be a lost radio studio resource. This is not good. TheWLIU studios were of remarkable design. Their construction cameunder the chancellorship at Southampton College of Robert F. X.Sillerman, long-time owner of many radio stations in the U.S. Hetook special interest in the station. Lots of money andintelligence went into building its studios.

Not too long from now, Stony Brook Southampton will have asizeable student body – its website says “about 2,000 students areexpected to enroll within five years – and like almost everycollege will want a college radio station. It’s one thing for StonyBrook administrators not to want to partner with Peconic PublicBroadcasting. But gutting this extraordinary studio space insteadof saving it for a Stony Brook Southampton radio station seems sounwise.

In any event, Peconic Public Broadcasting will be endeavoring togo on. WLIU’s general manager, Dr. Wallace A. Smith, steadfastamidst the relative chaos Saturday, said “we have completed leasearrangements for the station to move to a building at 71 HillStreet in Southampton. There had been consideration of WLIU goingto the former Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton but thatdidn’t work out. The Hill Street site had “always been seen as analternative location, he said. A quirky aspect of the2,000-square-foot space is that all the walls are covered bymirrors because it had been an “exercise facility. To deal withthis, wall coverings are to be installed, Mr. Smith said.

Last month, Peconic Public Broadcasting gave LIU a $150,000 downpayment towards the $850,000 purchase price of WLIU. By June 30 itwill have to come up with the rest of the money.

That’s hundreds of thousands of dollars that will need to beraised, rather quickly. Dr. Smith feels it is doable because “thecommunity rallied to support our bid to acquire the license for88.3 FM and it created Save Public Radio for the East End. We hopepeople in the same spirit will now rally to support us for thefunds we need to complete the purchase and operate the station.

Also, he said, there was uncertainty among some prospectivebackers “until we made the first payment, until we had our501(c)(3) status [as a non-profit organization eligible fortax-deductible contributions] and until we had a place to move to¦ Now all the pieces are together. We have a viableorganization. And we are comfortable that we will be able to do thefund-raising needed.

Dr. Smith mused about a preservationist aspect of having WLIU goon. “This is the last available piece of broadcast spectrum on LongIsland, he said. “It’s no less a threatened species than farmlandor pine barrens. This is an asset for eastern Long Island. It’s thelast hope for Long Island to have its own public broadcastingstation owned and operated by local people.

In the end, the studio where WLIU operates is far less importantthan what it broadcasts. And continued community support will beneeded to keep it on the air.